Brazil and Argentina highlight priority actions for women’s health

Brazil and Argentina address women’s health in ministers’ statement Document also mentions research on vaccines and pharmaceutical industrial complex In the midst of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s visit to Argentina, the Ministers of Health of both countries, Nísia Trindade (Brazil) and Carla Vizzotti (Argentina), signed, this Monday (23), in Buenos Aires, a joint declaration addressing a series of actions in different areas. There are 19 priority actions planned, including the promotion of gender equality and equity and access to women’s sexual and reproductive rights, which appears at the top of the agreement. The document also mentions the elimination of barriers to access services and improvement of the health results of the different cultures and regional ethnic groups, cooperation for the development of the economic-industrial health complex of the two countries, in addition to strengthening the joint work on research, development and production of vaccines, medicines and technological innovations in health, aiming to contribute towards regional self-sufficiency in terms of health. “Among the priority actions are the guarantee of fundamental rights and access to health, epidemiological surveillance to anticipate emergencies and the development of the economic-industrial complex in Health, part of the strategy of integration and regional autonomy of Mercosur”, wrote the minister Nísia Trindade on her social networks, to mention the agreement. On the Argentine side, in an official note published on the government page, Minister Carla Vizzotti highlighted the importance of Brazil having, for the first time in history, a woman at the head of the Health portfolio . “May we articulate two women in management, especially considering the setback that Brazil has had in recent years in relation to sexual and reproductive rights, the rights of women, pregnant people and the gender perspective.” The joint declaration in the area of ​​health between Brazil and Argentina also points to priority in the development of epidemiological surveillance strategies through exchange and experience in the surveillance of public health emergencies; cooperation of national programs aimed at preventing chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer; promotion of healthy eating through nutritional labeling and warnings to promote adequate, healthy and sustainable eating. The full document signed between the two countries in the area of ​​health can be consulted here. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his entourage, made up of six ministers, arrived in Argentina on Sunday night (22nd), on their first international trip since assuming the third term in the Presidency of the Republic. In addition to the bilateral meeting with President Alberto Fernández, Lula participates in a meeting with Brazilian and Argentine businessmen. This Tuesday (24th), Lula will participate, in Buenos Aires, in the 7th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), a group of 33 countries in the hemisphere. The following day, the Brazilian president pays a visit to Uruguay, where he will meet with President Lacalle Pou. Then he returns to Brazil.

Agência Brasil